


Toothpaste and Orange Juice

by Vex_ation



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Emerald/Wally is BG sorry, F/M, Frantic Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24425053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vex_ation/pseuds/Vex_ation
Summary: Confessing, to Sapphire's surprise, was the easy part. Traversing this new territory and figuring out what life was like while dating was another world to her, but one she was determined to conquer. Even still, though dating sometimes felt like drowning, she was sure she would learn how to tread the waters soon enough. For herself, for him, for them, she would swim the seven seas.~ A collection of seven, somewhat interconnected 1000 word drabbles for Frantic Week~
Relationships: Emerald/Mitsuru | Wally, Odamaki Sapphire | Sapphire Birch/Ruby
Comments: 16
Kudos: 20





	1. Day 1: Date

Sapphire leaned forward, cupping her face as she sipped her iced tea noisily. Ruby clicked his tongue, still staring at another table.

“Elbows off the table,” he snapped, so Sapphire blew bubbles into her drink in protest. 

Nonetheless, she sat up in her chair— Ruby was right. If she wanted Ruby to bring her here again for a  _ real _ date, she would have to behave. Perhaps this was a practice run, in a way. 

“How’re they doing?” she asked. It was hard not to keep the boredom out of her voice. A tiny part of her was jealous, wishing that this date could be theirs instead of this strange recon mission, but she still got free food out of it, so maybe it was rude to complain. A shadow over her face snapped her from her thoughts. 

“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked, an easy smile on his face. 

“O- oh, yeah,” she replied, a bit embarrassed about being caught off guard. 

“I’ll have... um... the special, please.”

“Absolutely... and for you?”

Ruby leaned in close. “I’ll have whatever takes as long as possible— try and delay it if you can. I want to spend as much time in here as possible.”

“Oho, on a date?” the waiter teased. Ruby gave a small gesture towards another table on the other side of the restaurant. 

“No, but they are,” he explained. The waiter gave Ruby a weird look, but Ruby just turned back to his drink and tried not to look suspicious. While Ruby surreptitiously explained the situation to the waiter, Sapphire sighed and played with her straw. She couldn’t hear what he was saying since he was on the other side of the room, but as far as she could tell Emerald’s date was going pretty well. He looked kinda stiff, but the tablecloth hid his kicking legs and Ruby had wrestled him into a suit earlier, so he looked far more dapper than usual. Even still, she caught him moving constantly to tuck his hair behind his ear despite it being in a long braid. He only ever seemed to do that when he was nervous, so Sapphire could only assume he was on edge. 

Though she sympathized with him and his initial romantic skepticism, some part of her wanted to roll her eyes. His date was Wally, the one person on the planet who was almost impossible to offend. She was pretty sure she could spill soup in his lap and he would apologize to her. It wasn’t like Ruby and all his fickle emotions. It had taken her years to figure out what he was feeling under all those layers of conflicting emotions. As far as she was concerned, Emerald had it easy. And yet here he was, fidgeting in his chair while his date stared back at him with a soft, melancholy smile. 

“I told him to stop that,” Ruby muttered, drumming his fingers on the table. “I wouldn’t have spent so much time getting the wrinkles out of that shirt if I knew he would play with this collar the entire time!” 

Sapphire sighed. At least he was picking up the tab. 

“I think Emerald has everything under control,” Sapphire admitted. “He’s nervous and a little awkward, but isn’t everyone on their first date?”

Ruby narrowed his eyes and grumbled something. “I guess, but after spending so much time getting him ready I don’t want him ruining the whole thing with his bad attitude.” Sapphire couldn’t help but smile. 

“You don’t need to pretend,” she laughed, looking at his surprised expression with half-lidded eyes. “That silly mock-selfish attitude doesn’t suit you.”

“W- what? I’m not being selfish, I just want to make sure all this time and effort is worth it!” he snapped back. She could tell there was no hostility in his voice, but his stubbornness was impressive. 

“You’re just worried about him, aren’t you?”

Ruby stayed silent for a long while, cupping his face in his hand and staring ahead at nothing in particular. “Perhaps.”

“Emerald is gonna be fine.”

“I know, I just… he can’t talk to people! Every time he’s over my house he just talks about pokemon and steals all my crackers. That’s after months of getting him to open up! It took me so long just to get him to that point and I don’t want him to drive away people I know will adore him because he’s bad at first impressions. I want him to have as much fun on his date as we do on all of ours.”

Sapphire couldn’t help but chuckle. “That was almost romantic.”

Ruby blushed scarlet, turning away to spy on his friends before Sapphire could laugh at him more. Emerald was talking animatedly, Wally looked absolutely enamored as he nodded along to whatever story Emerald was telling. 

“I guess they’ll be ok…” Ruby sighed. “Perhaps I shouldn’t worry too much.”

“Yeah,” Sapphire said as the waiter returned with drink refills. As he walked away, Ruby stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. 

“Those two seem to be getting along fine, so I guess the mission is over… but our food still won’t be out for a while.”

“Mmhm,” Sapphire mumbled as she sipped her new iced tea. 

“So… what do you say about making this a real date? You know, for us?”

Sapphire nearly choked on her straw. 

“Are ya…. serious?” 

Ruby nodded with a confident smile. “I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing-- do you know how long it took to find earrings that matched this dress?”

“You just wanna hang out with me, don’t ya?” Sapphire replied. Ruby waved her off, his face flushing even under his makeup. 

“You caught me,” he admitted. “We have a while anyway, so we might as well enjoy it.”

Sapphire reached across the table to interlock their fingers. “So it’s a date?”

Ruby’s gaze softened, and for the first time that night, all his attention was entirely on her. “It’s a date.”


	2. Day 2: Seasons

“Sapphire, I am only going to tell you one more time. Take. A. Shower.”

Sapphire looked back at him incredulously. “Yer still on about that? I told ya, I’m going out tomorrow and I’m gonna get all dirty again anyway so who cares?”

“What do you mean  _ who cares _ , your hair is so tangled up I thought it was a bird’s nest!”

“Perfect! I won’t startle the pokemon if I blend in!”

Sapphire turned to Emerald, who was napping under a tree. “Hey Rald, can you get me a few twigs? Ruby just gave me the best idea!”

“Sapphire  _ NO _ !” Ruby snarled. “You stink! You need to wash off and take a shower before mold starts growing all over you!”

Sapphire crossed her arms and huffed. “I shower plenty and I do NOT stink! I smell like nature, and it helps me approach the wild pokemon. I’ll shower after tomorrow.”

Ruby grumbled. This was downright unhygienic! He loved her and respected her decisions, but this? This would simply not stand. Ruby stared off into the woods to think as Emerald got up and stretched. He seemed unconcerned with Ruby’s predicament, instead slipping his gloves back on and walking past Ruby to the flowerbed. To Ruby’s utter shock, Emerald got along incredibly well with his mom, the two of them spending hours together just talking about dirt and plants and flowers. Now Emerald showed up just to garden, which was weird because this wasn’t even his house. 

As Ruby pondered what kind of soap to buy Sapphire to convince her to shower more, Emerald knelt down by the lilies, picking weeds from around their fragile stems and leaning forward to pull the hose from its rack. He elbowed Ruby’s leg, silently throwing the nozzle over Ruby’s feet as he crawled farther into the flowerbed. Aha. Ruby had an accomplice. 

Making sure Sapphire wasn’t paying attention as she watched two Taillow swooping overhead, he knelt down, weighing the garden hose in his hands. A gentle hiss told him that Emerald had turned on the hose. Ruby flipped the nozzle to jet, readying himself. 

“Hey Sapphire!!” he shouted. She turned to face him, her curious face blasted by a stream of hose water and sending her stumbling backwards. Her head and shoulders were soaked, her hair a wet mop of knots and tangles as Ruby smirked at her from across the yard. Emerald was snickering from his spot in the flowerbed, feigning innocence. Sapphire just stared at Ruby, not bothering to shake the water out of her eyes. Instead, she just silently walked away, leaving Ruby to hold the hose and wonder if maybe he went too far. 

Emerald popped out from amidst the flowers, a bundle of weeds in his hands. 

“If she tries to kill you I’ll take the blame,” he said. 

“I’m flattered,” Ruby replied, but he still couldn’t help but worry. Sapphire had been up there for a while, and he knew that in times like this it was best to give her space, but still. 

A water balloon bashing him in the face informed him that no, Sapphire was not mad, only biding her time. He glanced up to Sapphire’s window, where she stuck her tongue out at him and leapt outside. Ruby watched in fear as she swung down the gutter like a fireman’s pole and landed, bag of water balloons in hand, about twenty feet away. Emerald shrank back down into the flowers, leaving Ruby alone to face her onslaught. Hose in hand, he heard the familiar hiss of Emerald turning the knob, giving him more power. 

“I can’t believe you ruined my hair,” Sapphire said. 

“I would say ‘you ruined my makeup’ but I wear waterproof,” Ruby replied. Sapphire glowered, another water balloon in hand. 

“Is this a declaration of war?” Ruby asked. Sapphire squeezed the balloon, winding up for a throw. 

“You betcha.”

As the summer sun beat down, the two of them steadily got more and more soaked. Ruby’s extra firepower from the hose was for naught; Sapphire’s nimble moves let her escape the spray easily. However, though Sapphire was fast and powerful, her water balloons simply weren’t fast or numerous enough to hit Ruby all that often either. They were more or less at a stalemate, the occasional shriek indicative of a rare hit. Even still though, all the running around left them exhausted and the grass slippery and wet. Sapphire was down to her last balloon-- she lobbed it at Ruby’s head, but he didn’t bother to dodge. Ruby retaliated by blasting her with the hose a final time, but she only opened her arms to accept the spray. 

“Now we’re soaking wet,” Sapphire said. Ruby stared at his feet, caked with mud and blades of grass. 

“And covered in mud,” he added.    
Emerald finally crawled out from the flowerbed, taking off his gloves and dragging away the bucket of weeds. 

“Looks like you both need to shower,” he observed, leaving them dumbfounded as he walked away. “You’re both stinky.”

“H- HEY!” they shouted in unison, although they had to admit he was right. They smelled like grass and mud and hose water, just two soaking wet teens losing themselves to flights of fancy under the summer sun. 

“Should we… go shower?” Sapphire asked. “We’re all wet.”

Ruby turned the hose over in his hands. “I mean… if we’re already wet, we might as well make the most of it.”

“Whaddya mean?” Sapphire replied as Ruby handed her the hose. 

“If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, I’ll let you do the honors.”

Sapphire grinned at him, nuzzling his cheek with hers before shifting into a power stance and wrapping her hands around the nozzle. 

“Heyy Emerald!!~” they both shouted as he rounded the corner. His face fell, color draining from his expression as he looked for an easy avenue of escape. 

“What’s the hose for?” he asked. 

“You need to take a shower, stinky,” Sapphire cooed. The flowerbeds couldn’t save him. 


	3. Day 3: Quiet Moments

“What’s with the jars on yer desk?” Sapphire asked, poking around Ruby’s things like a kitten. Ruby perked up, wheeling his chair over to her and glancing over at all the strange containers Sapphire was flicking. 

“Oh, these? This is my face wash, my moisturizer, my toner, and this is my spot treatment, my exfoliator...” he said as he pointed to jar after jar. They all had flashy, pastel lids, Ruby being able to pick them apart easily by shape and color. By the time they got to the fourth jar, Emerald looked completely lost. 

“Is he speaking Johtoian or am I just stupid?” he asked. Sapphire plucked a jar off the top and sniffed at the open lid, taking a quick swipe of the gel with her finger and pressing it into Emerald’s nose. 

“Nope, it’s all skincare stuff,” she explained as Ruby rambled on. “I used to use it, but I don’t bother much anymore.”

Emerald licked his nose and scrunched up his face in disgust. “That doesn’t taste as good as it smells,” he complained. Wiping the rest off with the back of his sleeve, he retreated to Ruby’s bed, no doubt to fall asleep amidst his pile of Pokedolls like every other time he came over. Ruby seemed to notice his audience wasn’t all that interested. 

“Why did you ask?” he wondered. Sapphire stared at the jars. Looking at all of his makeup gave her a funny feeling. She hadn’t done makeup in years-- it was a part of her she didn’t like to think about, much less talk about, and at this point she was worried the time had taken its toll and she would be lost trying to wear makeup again. Even still though, there was a little part of her that loved the idea of getting dolled up for no reason at all even after all those years. Maybe… she could try it again.    
“I like hearing you talk about your makeup,” Sapphire admitted. Ruby stared at her. 

“You do?”

“Yeah… you know so much and you get so excited about it, it’s nice to hear you being so passionate. Maybe you could even… do my makeup?”

Ruby stared back at her, flabbergasted. 

“You… are you sure about this?”

“Why not?” Sapphire said. “It’d be something new.”

Emerald rolled over on the side of Ruby’s bed, their conversation distracting him from the battle strategies he was cataloguing in his notebook. “Quick, before she changes her mind,” he teased. 

Sapphire couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside as pure glee spread across Ruby’s face. 

“I’m going to stay more on the natural look for you, since I know tons of makeup can feel really heavy.”

Sapphire said nothing, letting her eyes flutter closed as Ruby looked through his drawers to find all the tools and potions he would need. Today was gloomier, so the only noise was Emerald’s scribbling and the rustle of leaves outside as Ruby slowly and carefully worked on applying Sapphire’s makeup. The powders and creams he sponged onto her face were foreign to her, but soothing and pleasant smelling. It was strangely comforting watching him fawn over her, studying her face with the intense fire and passion of an artist observing his muse. 

An old, vague sense of familiarity washed over her-- she knew he used foundation first, then a setting powder, layering mascara and highlighter and whatever else on top. Though she knew she couldn’t do it herself, a little part of her was nodding along. Even still, it didn’t really change the fact that this was a full face of makeup, and the spooge that covered her face wasn’t as comfortable or familiar as mud or leaves. The longer Ruby worked, the stranger it felt, less like cream and more like paint. Somehow, he noticed,

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked. Sapphire let her eyes snap open, his worried face coming into focus. 

“I got a bit carried away and I’m worried that I put a little too much on, so I can stop here.”

Though admittedly Sapphire felt kind of bad at forcing Ruby to stop when he wasn’t totally finished, she was starting to get ill thinking about the brush on her eyelids again. It made her eyes feel so dry and teary, so she couldn’t imagine how Ruby managed every morning. Like he said, this was much lighter than his usual fare. 

Ruby silently titled the mirror towards her, and Sapphire couldn’t help but stare. She wasn’t sure if she looked good or bad or whether she liked it, but one thing was for sure: she looked different. She looked up at Ruby and all his makeup. 

“Do you look different under all that makeup?” she asked. Ruby laughed. 

“A thank you would’ve been fine, but yes, I do.”

Sapphire rubbed the back of her head. “A- Ah, Sorry… Thanks Ruby.”

Ruby smiled warmly at her. “I’m glad you liked it-- this was a lot of fun.”

Sapphire couldn’t stop staring at herself in the mirror. “I feel the same, but I look so different,” she said softly. “It’s so strange.”

“Isn’t makeup interesting like that?” Ruby replied as he rested his head on her shoulder. “It’s like a brand new you without the effort. You can apply so many different kinds, it’s almost like becoming someone else entirely.”

Sapphire spun him around, nuzzling their noses together. “I like every version of you.”

“Even blue eyeshadow Ruby?”

“... Ok maybe not him.”

The two of them laughed, turning to show Emerald Sapphire’s new look. They found him face-down on the bed, snoring. 

“Since Emerald stole my bed and we’re all dolled up,” Ruby offered, “wanna make it a movie date?”

Sapphire perked up instantly. “Can we watch the Notebook?”

Ruby fist pumped silently. “Perfect! I’ll make popcorn.”

As he bounded down the stairs, Sapphire took one last fond look at herself in the mirror. She looked different. Maybe, just maybe… she liked it. 


End file.
